Advanced Search
Advanced Search
DEACESSIONED June 27, 2013

Fragment of large votive (?) relief: female head

Greek
Classical or Early Hellenistic Period
about 4th century B.C.

Medium/Technique Marble, probably island
Dimensions height x width (max., from view of face): 12 x 10 cm (4 3/4 x 3 15/16 in.)
Credit Line Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William de Forest Thomson
Accession Number18.427
ClassificationsSculpture

Catalogue Raisonné Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 084.
DescriptionThe head is unfinished, being connected to the background by a roughed-out projection on the left side. A medium-sized and then a small chisel have been used to go over the surfaces. The hair was being worked up into a knot or a flat bun behind, producing a superficial resemblance to the Pothos of Skopas or to the famous charioteer from the small frieze of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
Provenance1918, gift of Mr. and Mrs. William de Forest Thompson, Boston, to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 12, 1918); June 26, 2013, deaccessioned by the MFA for sale through Christie's, New York.